Malacca government is craving for more MONEY to go into Malacca Unesco Heritage site. The initial proposed is to impose 15% of the rack rate on each of the hotel room / per nite basis. So in another word, when you pay for RM100 for one night... you will have to extra paying another 15% which means that ended up you pay extra RM15 on the RM100 room. Bear in mind, this calculation is base on per room per day basis.

After hoo ha around, the government decided to tax RM2/room/day.Hotel Receptionist (HR) : Sir, you need to pay RM2 for the heritage tax. Since you are staying for 2 nights so you need to pay RM4.Me: >.> Since when this heritage tax started?HR: Since April 1st 2012.Me: Why Penang did not impose the RM2 for heritage tax. They are also Unesco Heritage site. So...HR: This tax only impose in MalaccaMe: *in my heart - I will not be going to Malacca as often as what i used to...Me: hmmm... okay... here you go the RM4.

Actually tell you the truth, although the RM4 is not much, by looking at how Malacca is so bad maintained. I wondered how many RM4 will not be used in the correct purposes i.e. upkeep the Heritage Site. For me i will not give RM4 if i have a chance... but too bad... the government has setup something.

So, when i went back to KL, I made a google on Heritage Tax and found that the Malacca state government is looking at imposing tax on Food outlet, entertainment etc. If this happen, Malacca will be totally out from my visit list...

This is especially so for Umno 'higher-ups' who can do no wrong and are above the law.

Starting with Najib's denial 'Wallahi, Wabillahi, Watallahi (with Allah as my witness), I swear I do not know or have any connection with the Mongolian woman' to the two latest denials- 'utter rubbish' and 'completely untrue' - Umno has become the PARTY in DENIAL.

And this was not particularly unusual for Fez. There were pogroms in 1033, and 1276, in 1465 the mellah (ghetto) was almost completely destroyed, and there were pogroms throughout Morocco in 1790 where the Fez Jews were forced out of the city for two years.

This is just a small part of how well Jews were treated in Muslim countries. For the most part better than Europe, but they were always considered to be inferior and apart from the majority population, and when bad things happened the Jews were the first to be attacked.

-His dad is Ananda Krishnan and mom is a Thai.-The couple has 2 daughters and 1 son. he is the only son.-He chose to become a monk 18 years ago and never look back.-He was educated in UK and speaks 8 languages.

"Sri Lankan held for 'witchcraft' in Saudi Arabia," from Reuters, April 182012, incidentally this is not in the 7th Century, it is happening today and now. A Sri Lankan woman has been arrested on suspicion of casting a spell on a 13-year-old girl during a Saudi family's shopping trip, a police spokesman said on Wednesday, and may face death in a country where convicted sorcerers are beheaded. The spokesman, Mesfir al-Juayed, confirmed to Reuters by phone that details of the woman's arrest published in local media were correct.

The daily Okaz reported that a Saudi man had complained his daughter had "suddenly started acting in an abnormal way, and that happened after she came close to the Sri Lankan woman" in a large shopping mall in the port city of Jeddah. "He reported her to the security forces, asking for her arrest and the specialized units dealt with the situation swiftly… and succeeded in arresting her," Okaz reported on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, is an absolute monarchy that has no written criminal code and where court rulings are based on judges' interpretation of Islamic Sharia law."The punishment is always beheading for anyone found guilty of witchcraft," a Saudi lawyer and human rights activist, Waleed Abu al-Khair, told Reuters by phone.

In December, Amnesty International condemned the beheading of a woman in Saudi Arabia convicted on charges of "sorcery and witchcraft," saying it underlined the urgent need to end executions in the kingdom. Amnesty said the execution was the second of its kind last year. A Sudanese national was beheaded in the Saudi city of Medina in September after being convicted on sorcery charges, according to the London-based group. Hat tip: Jihad Watch

All of us know that soyabean drink provides good protein to our body... but many of us don't know that there are certain days we should avoid drinking it.

Soya bean drinks are best consumed on hot sunny days when the sun is strong. The soya milk will give lots of nutrients to the body as the body is able to absorb the protein well.

However, avoid the drink when the weather is cloudy or raining. Taking the drink in that weather, the body will not be able to take in the protein and will result in a disease called 'GOUT' or 'high acidic urine' due to the high protein residue in the body, after a long run.

This disease will cause pain to your knee joints and it will only be in control when you control your food intake of proteins and medication. The pain is unbearable and usually you will have no idea what you have taken to cause the pain. Food like soya beans, anchovies, broccoli, spinach, peanuts, & n esp animal organs ( i.e. pork liver) etc will have to be avoided to prevent the pain from attacking.

So my friend, pass this to your family, relatives and friends to keep an alert on the pros and cons of soya bean milk and when it is to be taken and to be avoided

I agree with the Commander a seafaring warrior of yesteryear's, who are the tax payers, the majority being the very underprivileged. They are the ones who have been bearing the brunt of the free loaders lusts.Whilst their own children are systematically denied of higher education. Higher education has to be competitive, if not you will end up with "outstanding figures" like Hishamuddin, Najib Razak and so many other morons and robber barons from "You Must Not Object".

COMMENT The PTPTN fiasco is exactly the kind of policy debate that needs to be had but so far both sides, Umno and Pakatan Rakyat (although this seems to be a purely PKR affair) have managed to reduce this complex issue into the usual toxic mix of race and religion baiting on Umno's side, with Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and an Umno-sanctioned ulama attempting to drag "Hindu cultural practices" and Islam into the mix (who can blame them when Pakatan or at least an ulama in a Pakatan-controlled state did the same (dragging the issue into the religious sphere) and populist grandstanding for the sake of political mileage on Pakatan's side, with Anwar Ibrahim's "a caring nation can never go bankrupt" if actually researched would no doubt prove the opposite.

Those scrappy students attempting a prolonged camp out at Dataran Merdeka hoping to emulate some kind of 60s popular student protest or maybe even an American 'Occupy' type howl of frustration should perhaps have timed their sense of outrage so it coincided with the upcoming Bersih rally, much like how Himpunan Hijau have decided to march in solidarity or should that be sit, with the Bersih crowd.

It was amusing to read that one of the rather prosaic chants reportedly heard at the rally was "Umno-BN capitalist suck" (I'll leave out the 'Rosmah' opprobrium) which begs the question would PKR-Pakatan capitalist be more palatable to the students?

Never mind that it is 'capitalist' (our money in the form of taxes) that have been subsidising these students or it will be 'capitalist' (again our taxes and most probably the resources of the numerous GLCs) that would be bailing out these students in the event that Pakatan manages to provide 'free education' (in the form of absolving repayment or abolishing the scheme) to these students or their future comrades.

Then we have Youth chief Ng Chong Soon of the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Assembly Hall, comparing the PTPTN to loan sharking and that "Quality higher education has been misdirected to become a money-making institution" and "Higher education in this country should be free, through federal government funding (or) combined with fees that are reasonable and cheap, so that more youth from the poorer segments of society can obtain higher education."

So let me get this straight, Soon wants cheap or free higher education and it should be 'quality higher education' right? And really Soon, higher education is a money-making institution or do you not want those thousand of foreign students coming each year to our shores looking for an education and contributing to our economy? And bear in mind that those students most often don't have the luxury of low-interest rate loans, coming from countries in dire financial straits or consider those students who do have the money coming from countries rich in natural resources but which only benefits a select few.

Tertiary education a privilege

Make no mistake, I believe the "poorer segments of society" should have access to higher education and state apparatus that makes this possible but I do not for one minute think that tertiary level education is a 'right' nor do I think it should be free. Tertiary-level education is a privilege and like most privileges it should be obtained with some sacrifice. Absolving students from payment or abolishing the system merely reinforces the entitlement culture endemic in this country, which has been perpetuated by the Umno regime.

And let us not forget those who took the loan in good faith and repaid it, these people are examples of tenacity, sacrifice and hard work, values which seems to be slowly fading away as the Umno years go by and not something that a Pakatan government-in-waiting should be emulating. If ever Pakatan comes into power, they will need people who subscribe to such values to repair the decades long 'cultural damage' wrought upon by Umno and an issue like this that plays well to certain segment of the voting public used to the handout culture should not be coddled into thinking that its business as usual when it comes to emotive issues such as these.

A constructive (in terms of nation building) Pakatan response should not be that the students or the system would be absolved (of repayment) or abolished respectively but rather the system in place would be scrutinised to ensure that it is free from those "issues" that seem to plague any Umno initiative mainly the "leakages" problem and incompetence. They should reiterate their zero tolerance for corruption and nepotism and their commitment to transparency when it comes to hot button issues such as education and healthcare. What they should not do is turn this into some sort "class warfare" struggle (not that I mind such a proposition) with promises of some sort of utopian solution which would further strain the resources of this country already abused by years of Umno corruption and wastage.

This is a great opportunity for Pakatan to spell out its education reform polices which hopefully would see an end to the divisive structures we have in place at the moment where national schools are a breeding grounds for racial disharmony and where Chinese and Tamil schools continue (even though across the racial line enrollment in the former is climbing) to reinforce communalist preoccupations. Forget about higher education for a moment (since it should be a privilege and for decades Malaysians parents without excess to the Umno regimes handout machines have struggled to see that their children receive a higher education if they made the grade) and concentrate on the failing primary and secondary school education system.

Or maybe concentrate on both. Cease creating substandard universities with sycophantic academics producing unemployable graduates. Encourage an academic environment free from the influence of the state and religion which would go a long way in mending race relations in this country, not to mention unshackle the creative impulses of young people so they can discover new ways to contribute to this country economically and even culturally.In other words, stop using universities as breeding grounds for drones who would blindly vote for the government of the day or graduates who can't contribute anything to society except wait for government institutions to employ them.

The entitlement culture

Of course, the cost of education has risen but what is troubling is that for a certain segment of the Malaysian public what has not risen together with this cost, is the determination to get that education with struggle and hard work. Like I said, it's part of the entitlement culture. And this being Malaysia, everything at the end of the day is tied to race or eventually race is injected into the equation. Understand now, that a free higher education debate is one worth having but it should not be tied to this existing PTPTN 'problem'.

I am fully aware of the sinful waste of resources that occurred and continue during Umno's long watch in terms of corruption and nonsensical expenditures but I do believe that we need to understand that the basic issue when it comes to the PTPTN loans, is the sense of entitlement that will continue to flourish if people continue to believe that everything should be handed to them as a right instead of recognising that a quality higher level education is a privilege earned with hard work and commitment to pay back if you accept any government loans, recognising the reality that with this education opportunity, your prospects are increasing due to the hard tax-paying work of others.

In other words, PTPTN is an effective social programme for those seeking higher education with very little means to begin the long process. However, it should come with the explicit understanding that such loans (which at the end of the day is financed by the rakyat) should be repaid so that others in less fortunate circumstances have the same chances as those who took the loans before them.

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water, especially since in this context it has everything to do with the values a government would want to inculcate in the general public.

China's Guangzhou City has captured one of their most wanted men partly thanks to some play cards distributed by the police.

50,000 sets of play cards were given out to the public for free earlier this month, with information of 54 of the city's most wanted fugitives printed on the cards.

And through that the authorities have successfully located the where-about of the 47-year-old fugitive (wanted for a 2004 murder case), who surrendered himself realising that the cops were around the corner.

The whole world is watching the so called Democratization process of Myanmar shaping progressively at the horizon. But the whole world failed to understand that REALLY most of the Bamas never wish to practice Democracy. They even fail to realize that they are just wishing in their hearts and minds to establish a Bama Buddhist Empire. Bamas do not wish to compete the Ethnic and Religious Minorities on the level playing field.

Just think deeply about the following truths:

Most of the Petroleum, Gas, Minerals, and Jades etc are in the Ethnic Minority areas and if they are given autonomy what will be left for Bamas?

If they gave EQUAL RIGHTS to Burmese-Chinese, Burmese Muslims, Rohingyas etc Bamas would be handicapped in economy.

Religious freedom to Minority Religious Groups: Christians, Muslims and Hindu etc….would jeopardise the upper hand they are taking in all the fields.

On top of those basic facts, most of the Burmese on both side of political divide could not hide the feelings of deep seated hatred and antagonism i.e. Islamophobia toward all the Muslims in Myanmar.

Copies of the 120 page long Anti-Muslim booklets which is titled, 'We are afraid that our race will disappear' and "Burmese Citizens Beware!" pamphlets are distributed in most of Myanmar nowadays.

"… Malaysia and Indonesia were once Buddhist countries in history (Sic), but unfortunately the Muslims used (their) methods (to expand their religion) so successfully that they have become Muslim countries; Buddhism has disappeared from these countries…. Bear in mind that the four social causes of the Myanmar Military must be accomplished…."

It continues to accuse their victim Muslims in Myanmar with long chronology of alleged crimes and faults against Bama Buddhists. In a flick of the slick magician's hand majority strong Bamas are portrayed effectively as victims of systemic Muslim attacks and scheme.

Burmese Citizens – Beware!

The Muslims living in Burma are attempting to expand their religion while destroying Buddhism in Burma by using the following ways:

1) Land: All the land in the country shall be owned by the Muslims.

2) Money: To organize Buddhists to become Muslims using the power of money.

3) Women: To organize Buddhist women to get married with Muslims using money and other ways.

4) Doctrine: To preach Muslim doctrine in every place.

5) State power: After successfully using these above methods and [the] majority of the people become Muslim, to take state power.

Although many people now believe that these pamphlets are meant to incite unrest, many people still fall for them every time and the damage done leaves an indelible mark on the politico-racial-religious-relation history of Burma or Myanmar.

Worse part is the present President U Thein Sein and Daw Aung San suu Kyi led NLD failed to stop or even ignore their duty to denounce these Islamophobic propaganda. Daw Suu just sent out the statement requesting both side to stop fighting without acknowledging that Muslims are victims.

Perhaps most upsetting to Bama Buddhists is the idea of Muslim men marrying Bama women and converting them to Islam. Throughout military rule in Burma, successive regimes have used the spectre of a Muslim takeover to whip up nationalist sentiments. In particular, when anti-regime tensions are running high, staged-incidents of intolerable behavior by Muslims always seem to pop up and are used to channel anger into communal conflicts.

There also included instructions to local people not to buy goods or dine in Muslim shops and restaurants.

1) People are told not to buy things at Muslim shops. They are advised not to eat or buy from shops with 786, Bismillah or Halal logos.

2) They must not trade with Muslims.

3) People are not allowed to rent houses and land to Muslims.

4) Shops are told to display the logo 'ARAHAN' – Symbol of Buddhism.

5) People must not buy things from the shops that do not have that logo.

(Excerpts from an anti-Muslim pamphlet in Burmese, distributed in Rangoon, Mandalay and many areas in Myanmar.)

They are openly selling or sometimes distributing the copies of that book, some tapes and pamphlets made from the gist of that book. Radical Bamas distribute them to many Buddhist monasteries throughout the country. The government is also doing nothing about it.

The whole book is written to demonstrate the anti-Muslim sentiment existing in Bamas and the authorities turning a blind eye, although realising that this had lead to very dangerous and disastrous consequences and the pressure in Bama-boiler is increasing again and ready to explode. Although the Hardliners who wish to derail the present democratization process is trying many Bamas including some monks and a lot of NLD members are swallowing the hook, line, and sinker

References:

1. HUMAN RIGHTS YEARBOOK 1999-2000: BURMA Page HRDU 229

Muslims in Burma have been regularly denied the right to freedom of religion. They have also been subject to various forms of persecution and discrimination. There were credible reports that in early 1999 anti-Islamic booklets were widely distributed throughout the country through the USDA, a SPDC-sponsored mass organization. The All Burma Young Monks Association (ABYMU) denied military allegations that they had printed and distributed the booklets. The reports of these booklets followed other reports in recent years of SPDC's instigation or toleration of violence against Muslims. These booklets didn't indicate where they were printed or who wrote them, but they shared a basic message: Muslims are about to subvert all other religions. The anti-Muslim booklets explain how this had happened in Iraq and Indonesia, and how Muslims in Burma are about to turn the country into an Islamic state. During the widespread distribution of these pamphlets, communal riots were in Myinggyan, Myinmu, Myanaung and Tarmwe(Rangoon). It has been noted by some in Burma that in the past, Muslim people have been made the scapegoats for the government's economic failures, and the resulting religious conflicts distracted people from these failures.

2. As Human Rights Watch reported in its 2001 report, "Crackdown on Burmese Muslims", monks, working with the support of the government, have distributed anti-Muslim pamphlets such as the 2001 tract "Myo Pyauk Hmar Soe Kyauk Hla Tai (The Fear of Losing One's Race). Distribution of the pamphlets was also facilitated by the Union of Solidarity and Development Association (USDA). The USDA is the civilian support wing of the military regime,

While the idea of monks actually leading rioters may seem unusual, certain details make it less so. Myanmar's large and much feared military intelligence service, the Directorate of Defense Security Intelligence is commonly believed to have agents working within the monkhood. The monks have always been courageous supporters of the democracy movement. It would seem that monitoring dissident monks is not their only function.

Human Rights Watch also reported that monks in the 2001 riots were carrying mobile phones, a luxury not readily available to the Myanmar population – as very few without government connections can afford them. It is also reported that there was a clear split between monks who provoked violence and those who did not. It has been suggested by Human Rights Watch and others that these facts may reflect the presence of agent provocateurs among the monks. That suggestion may not be far off.

If violence does once again break out, it will be agitators at the lead. And this religious violence threatens to divert the world's attention from the real issue in Myanmar – the continuing deprivation of its people's prosperity by an unpopular military dictatorship.

Burma has a long and unfortunate history of discrimination against its Muslim citizens. With precedents for communal violence set in the past, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) have found it expedient on numerous occasions to exploit religious and ethnic tension, especially when it can be directed towards Muslim people, to divide the public and distract attention from other political and social issues.

Muslims were explicitly targeted for persecution. Acts of violence, destruction, and sacrilege perpetrated by SLORC soldiers against Burmese Muslims. For instance, in July 1988, pamphlets supposedly written by Muslims encouraging fellow Muslims to marry Burmese women suddenly appeared in Taunggyi and other towns where anti-military feelings were growing after the student demonstrations in Rangoon. As expected, Muslim-Buddhist conflicts broke out, and the stores and homes of Muslims were attacked and looted. Such pamphlets have shown up several times in Burma over the past ten years, including in October 1996 in Rangoon, when Islamophobic pamphlets appeared.

Kuala Lumpur city mayor Fuad Ahmad Ismail today said Bersih cannot hold its rally at Dataran Merdeka because it contained political and dissenting elements.

"We stress that the use of Dataran Merdeka was rejected in line with DBKL's (policy to) reject any activities that have similar characteristics such as wanting to give ceramah, having political elements or dissenting elements, this is not the place for it," he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Last week, DBKL had rejected Bersih request to hold its rally at Dataran Merdeka on grounds that it was not a national event.

However, Bersih had question why a private company, Nestle was able to hold its anniversary there on March 19 despite it not being a national occasion.

Is McDonald's Fun Run a 'national event', Bersih asks DBKL

By Shannon Teoh

April 23, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 — Bersih rubbished today Kuala Lumpur City Hall's (DBKL) rationale for rejecting its request to use Dataran Merdeka for its third rally for free and fair elections scheduled for Saturday, pointing out that companies, NGOs and political parties have used the historic square for minor events. DBKL had rejected the electoral reform movement's request last week, saying "events allowed to be held at Dataran Merdeka are only those of a national level, such as National Day, Federal Territories Day and other events which are of similar standing."

File photo of Bersih leaders with posters of their planned rally on April 28 at Dataran Merdeka.

But the coalition of 84 NGOs told a press conference today that in the past year companies such as fast-food giant McDonald's have used the landmark for events. "So what is the basis to reject us? Our stand is that Dataran Merdeka belongs to the people," said steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah. Bersih listed McDonald's Olympic Day Fun Run (July 2011), OCBC Cycle Malaysia (October 2011), Achilles Formula Drift Malaysia (December 2011), Barisan Nasional Youth Ride Fest (February 2012) and the World Kidney Day Run (March 2012) as events that have been held at Dataran Merdeka.

My daughter had been back in Penang for a short holiday and yesterday, Sunday, was the day that she was due to drive back to Kuala Lumpur. Like any concerned parent, I offered to accompany her down to KL as I didn't want her to travel alone. All this was arranged quite some time ago.

However, what was not in the works was a last-minute plan to deliver a copy of FIDELIS to my old headmaster, Dato' Tan Boon Lin.

You see, he had been rather anxious in the last two weeks or so regarding this book. He knew that it had been launched and he was due to get his copy. I've been asking the office of The Old Frees' Association to dispatch a copy to him as soon as possible but the OFA office had been delaying it. Not only for him but all the other contributors as well. Reason? The staff was rushing to prepare for the annual general meeting that's due on 29 Apr 2012.

That was when I suddenly realised that I could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. If I was going to go to KL, why not deliver FIDELIS to Tan as well? So I signed off a copy from the OFA office. That was last week.

Yesterday, my daughter and I arrived in Damansara Utama at about six o'clock. We rang the miniature school bell on the wall. Tan was out somewhere but his daughter, Gaik Cheng, invited us in to wait for his return. And pretty soon he did. He stood at his front door and there I was, inviting him into his own house! It should have been the other way round. Quite a reversal of roles at his house, wasn't it? He should've been in and I was out. Instead, I was in and he was out. But no matter....

We spent about an hour chatting about the book and about the school. During our conversation, some fresh snippets of personal information were offered. Like how his grandfather made the momentous decision for him to apply for admission to the Penang Free School. He could have gone on to a Parit Buntar or a Nibong Tebal school instead. Or how his predecessor, JMB Hughes, never forgave him for using the swimming pool fund for building the school library that was named Khutub Khanah Tunku after Tunku Abdul Rahman. Nevertheless, Tan admired Hughes for his adventure streak and love of the great outdoors. He commented that Hughes organised several expeditions with the schoolboys to Langkawi at a time when those isles were still pretty much off the tourist map.

After Tan's retirement from government service in 1982, he became the Director of Student Affairs at the Tunku Abdul Rahman College. He said that he was thrilled to be dealing with students again. He remained in that post for five years, deciding to leave after hearing many comments that he was only there to fill the position until an MCA-appointee could take over. He didn't like that insinuation. Politics, as usual, had reared its ugly head in this country.

I was just about to push the Publish button on this blog post when an email arrived from Tan. What a coincidence! Anyway, here is his email message to me. Thought it be interesting to share it around:

Hi,

Please accept my grateful thanks for your visit yesterday evening. As I told Chang Moh it was a wonderful surprise and certainly made up for all the anxieties I experienced due to the delay receiving a copy of FIDELIS after it was launched on 30 March. FIDELIS is a wonderful publication. Congratulations to you and those in OFA who were responsible for its production. Reading it certainly took me back to some of the the best years of my life in PFS: as student, teacher and Headmaster. Thanks once again.